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‘It looked like a fireball. The biggest I’ve ever seen’: Fire damages homes in Cochrane

Click to play video: 'Massive fire rips through under-construction condo in Cochrane, leads to evacuations'
Massive fire rips through under-construction condo in Cochrane, leads to evacuations
WATCH: A massive fire tore through a Cochrane condo complex that was under construction Wednesday morning – Jun 6, 2018

Several homes were damaged in a massive a two-alarm blaze on Fireside Boulevard in Cochrane Wednesday.

Cochrane fire said the call came in around 2:18 a.m.

“One building was under construction and fully involved when the crew arrived,” Cochrane Fire Services Chief David Humphry said.

A decision was made to call a second-alarm shortly after, which brought in more staff and resources to deal with the blaze, he said.

“[There’s] extensive damage on some of the other houses in the area across the street; and for vehicles; and that’s just heat damage,” he said. “The winds were favourable tonight. We didn’t have any high amounts of wind so we were able to keep control and keep it in one spot fairly accurately.”
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WATCH: Cochrane fire chief David Humphry provides an update on the conditions of two firefighters injured battling a massive blaze.

Click to play video: 'Cochrane fire chief discusses massive townhouse blaze'
Cochrane fire chief discusses massive townhouse blaze

“Three occupied units were seriously damaged; however, everyone was safely evacuated thanks to efficient and heroic actions of the first responders on scene,” Calbridge Homes spokesperson Michelle Jakeman said in a statement.

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There are no reports of major injuries, however, two firefighters received minor injuries battling the blaze, Humphry said.

Click to play video: 'Large blaze in Cochrane'
Large blaze in Cochrane

June 6: WATCH: Witness describes the fire in Cochrane Wednesday.

James Burchnall told Global News he was awoken by a loud bang around 2 a.m.

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“I heard a lady on the street yelling to get out,” said Burchnall. “That’s when I looked out the window and saw the sky was bright orange so that’s when we went outside and saw what was going on.”

Burchnall said he and some others started knocking on doors to alert people to the danger.

“We started knocking on doors to get people out of the surrounding houses. That’s what we headed down to do,” he said. “It’s kind of a rude awakening at that point it was a definite shock and now it’s kind of wearing off a little bit, but definitely scary.”

Lizzy Kitchen said she’s never seen a fire like this before.

“It looked like a fireball. The biggest I’ve ever seen,” said Kitchen. “It was massive and it was hot coming out. The flames were much higher than the houses.”

Fire crews battled an early morning blaze in Cochrane Wednesday. Tom Reynolds/Global News

One resident said one of the homes in the blaze had just been occupied.

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“The house next door, folks only moved in last week,” she said. “They had all new furniture… I just saw them on the street and when they moved in.”

There was damage to surrounding homes and cars, with the fire’s heat melting the siding of some homes.

Cochrane fire said it’s too early to tell what caused the massive multi-home blaze.

“[We have] two investigators here now, I’ll be requesting more,” Humphry said.

Developer La Vita Land said in a statement they are working with fire investigators “to gain a full understanding (of) what occurred, and move forward with solutions to address the damages.”

 

A fire damaged several homes on Fireside Boulevard in Cochrane Wednesday. Doug Vaessen/Global News

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